


Scrapbooks and Patterns

by lechatnoir



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, idk they're all silly peeps, in which the sassy science squad adopts cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 19:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1359151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lechatnoir/pseuds/lechatnoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>for tumblr user autisticwillgraham who had requested a little fic about the sassy science squad meeting. </p>
<p>It just so happened to spiral out of control a little, and well, they have scrap books in their memories of old summer days that seem to float on by and they'd be okay, because they're the Sassy Science Squad and they'd save the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scrapbooks and Patterns

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr under chrysanthemumskies
> 
> also up on tumblr uvu !

By tomorrow we'll be swimming with the fishes  
Leave our troubles in the sand.  
And when the sun comes up,  
We'll be nothing but dust,  
Just the outlines of our hands

By tomorrow we'll be lost amongst the leaves,  
In a wind that chills the skeletons of trees,  
And when the moon, it shines, I will leave two lines.  
Find my love, then find me.

 

_Tomorrow - Daughter_

i.

They had met on the corner of the playground field at approximately twelve o’clock on a Monday in August, with plans of a long successful day of adventuring and uncovering the secrets of the neighborhood park that they had somehow decided was riddled with secrets and bones and they were the adventurers who needed to uncover the secrets in order to save the world.

(more like save the 20 by 20 meter of woodwork that they were rummaging around in) 

She was out with a leather jacket on, dark navy blue dress underneath with white stockings and black shoes with buttons on them.

She was 10 years old, and couldn’t care less if there was dirt on the stockings.

They were in the way of her game anyway, and she was currently Bev Katz, inspector extraordinaire. 

“Got anything, Price?” she had called, hair braided with flower clips that her mother had insisted on sticking in because she had to look “proper” when she went out.

(Whatever that meant anyway.) 

Jimmy Price was a stocky kid, sandy blonde hair and corduroy pants that were held by red suspenders and a plaid blue and green shirt on, magnifying glass in hand as he poked around a sunlight filled area and stood up a bit after crouching and crawling around the tree roots , searching and searching and searching and getting nothing.

“Nope, nothing Kat. What about you, Zell?” Jimmy shouted, before turning to look at the third member of their little trio, dark curls and a focused gaze at the boy who was dressed in slacks and a dark blue t-shirt with a green hoodie haphazardly sliding off of his shoulders. “Huh well I guess, I mean, if the map’s right then we should probably be close by right? Like there’s _no way_ we’re wrong cause I went to the library to look it up and like the old cemetery thingy on the map is in _this_ area so we should be close!” he huffed before folding up the already crumbled up piece of paper that he had spent hours tracing the old town maps and really it should not be this hard but they had a mission to get through and he wasn’t just about to give up ! 

Still, they couldn’t stop themselves from letting out a chorus of sighs as their search came to an end nearly an hour later, and the sun was shining high and it was really hot which was the exact moment that Beverly had noticed the sprinklers in the near distance and had dragged them both each by the arm, telling them both to hurry on up else they’d have to fight someone for room and it wasn’t until she pushed them both into the water’s range did they both sputter and yelp because it was cold cold cold and they weren’t prepared and she could only laugh and laugh before both Jimmy and Brian looked at each other and reached towards Beverly, dragging her into the sprinkler’s range where she let out a shriek and soon enough they were chasing each other , declaring war on each other with sticks for weapons and nothing but the shade of the trees whistling on by above them .

 

It was that summer day that they realized they’d be stuck with each other for quite some time, and that they’d figure out the map’s contents soon enough.

ii.

They stumble through elementary school and middle school together, always the three of them.

Somehow it just works, and it’s a routine pattern which makes it safe. 

Beverly doesn’t really like the girls in her classes, nor the guys either. It’s like they’re only wrapped up in their own petty concerns and don’t like learning at all. Which hey, science was interesting, _okay_?

Brian doesn’t like the monotone lectures he gets on stuff he’s already read and memorized about three times already in the fifteen minutes that the class had started but then Jimmy was too busy scribbling away at his paper with some sort of plant and he couldn’t help but smile and roll up a paper ball before tossing it towards Jimmy’s head and he’s met with a pair of eyes that glare at him but there’s the threat of a smile tugging at Jimmy’s lips too because they both know that they’ve learned this before so they don’t really pay attention and if they have a bit of a paper ball war then no one really says anything anyway because they’re pretty sure both Brian and Jimmy have enough science-y gizmo stuff to blackmail everyone in the class if they really wanted to.

Sometimes they met up for lunch, when their classes would have some sort of break and they’d complain about something trivial or how boring this history test was and when would they get to do some cool science stuff and it’s a _‘Hey Bev you wanna come over and fiddle around with the chemistry kit I got in the mail?’_ that Jimmy says as they sit on the curb and pass a bag of chips between them (it’s not like Bev really cares if she gets a stain on her shirt, because it’s a small act of rebellion and she’s all about small rebellions at this day and at the age of 14 it somewhat works in getting a small rile out of her parents, just a bit) and she nods, before tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and saying 

“Yeah, sure. I’m pretty sure I can figure out that formula that you two were having trouble with the other day if I tinker around with it and stuff.” 

 

iii.

It’s like an unspoken agreement between the three of them that they help each other out. 

In any case, it was probably the reason why Zeller and Price were both riled up and seeking out the jock that had managed to humiliate and ruin Bev’s project presentation because he was Mr. I’m Cooler Than You Nerds – or so he thought of himself to be that way but they both knew that between the two of them they could take him down. 

(Probably)

(Maybe) 

(If Zeller still remembered any of his karate lessons back when he was a kid) 

They had figured out that the culprit would probably still be in the locker rooms getting changed before practice and of course that was the most logical thing to do at the moment, so in they marched, nothing but two scowls on their faces as said culprit just looked at them from behind his locker door and said 

“Wrong room science nerds. Astronomy club’s two doors down.” 

Really now Zeller should have taken into consideration that the dude was bigger than him and Jimmy combined which really should have not been a surprise when both of them had tried to lunge at the kid and he managed to toss them back into the neighboring row of lockers and _that_ would certainly leave a bruise if nothing else. 

It was like getting a bull angry before a bullfight (not that bull fights were something to be happy about, they were a vile and disgusting practice and the sooner the world ceased thinking about bull fights or dog fights or any sort of other fight where you pitted two animals together for no other reason than to see them fight it out the better the world would be) and really they should have tried their first initial approach of talking the kid into apologizing.

Said jock was about to punch through both of them when the sound of someone entering and shouting reached their ears and soon enough it was a familiar blur of raven black hair and an annoyed look on one Beverly Katz’s face as she held her lacrosse stick in front of her like a sword, acting like a buffer between the two parties. 

“Mind telling me why you’re about to punch the living daylights out of my two best friends , Chilton?” she muttered, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

“What well, I mean , Katz, you know, they came threatening me about ruining your presentation or some shit like that like, you know it was just a joke right?” he laughed, nervous and backed up a bit as she took a few steps closer to him, lacrosse stick waving in his face. 

“Oh, right, sure. Yeah, we’ll see about that little mistake when I fail and then get hounded by the entire _mafia_ for one slip up in grades. We’ll see how that joke works then, Chilton.” Beverly says with a huff, before moving out of his way to let him manuveur around the group and into the direction that he needs to head in. 

That didn’t stop her from tightening her grip on the lacrosse stick and giving it a hard ‘ _whack_ ’ against his back which caused him to yelp and move faster. 

“Serves him right.” Jimmy piped up, a grin on his face as he looked at Beverly. 

“Yeah you tell em Katz!” Zeller said, grinning at her. 

She couldn’t stay mad at them for trying to protect her reputation or something like that, but she could stay mad at them for almost getting seriously injured.

(Not like she’d tell them that she worried about them when she wasn’t there) 

“You know there’s really nothing stopping me from smacking both of you with this lacrosse stick. My hand’s getting a bit rusty and I do have practice in about 15 min…” 

It was their cue to smile and run before yelling back at her that they’d be there after her practice finished to go out and eat because Jimmy’s been talking about that one fish and chips place not too far from school and she could only smile and roll her eyes at them in return. 

iv.

Graduation was an event that drifted in and out of their conscious thoughts.

Once it had happened, they had decided that maybe they’d go to the same high school, because they worked best when they were together, like a team. 

(It was some hazy summer day, the break before they started high school , together. 

It was the old soccer field by a park that was empty and the air stood still, and there was nothing but the buzz of old bees nearby and it was perfectly okay. 

It was Jimmy who broke the silence that had drifted between the three of them, nothing but the grass whistling in their ears as they were sprawled out on old checkered blanket that Zeller had found in the attic of his house and decided it would be a great idea to go and watch the clouds because what else was there to do anyway? 

“What if we’re called the Science Squad?”

“What?” 

“You know, the Science Squad, and we can make like our own jackets and stuff and have codenames and hand signals, and you know, _be_ the Science Squad!” Jimmy said, hands waving animatedly as he spoke to them. 

“Huh. I guess, I mean I think I have a few spare jackets that may fit you guys.” Bev said, sitting up as the wind slowly picked up, brushing blades of grass against her legs. 

“I think I can come up with a handshake or two, shouldn’t be too hard.” Zeller muttered, half asleep as the summer wind slowly rustled on by. 

“So you guys are cool with it , I mean the Science Squad ?” Jimmy spoke up, watching his two friends with a bit of nervous laughter. 

“Course we are, Jimmy. C’mon. Back into the pile we go” Bev said, grinning as she tugged him close and they ended up rolling on top of Brian who could only squawk in protest at the invasion and it was perfectly okay , and after a few rounds of a tickle war they had called a truce and had laid down and watched the clouds drift on by. 

No one said anything until Brian spoke up – 

“ _Sassy_ Science Squad.” 

And somehow it had fit them. 

v. 

Highschool was a blur of old cigarette smoke and cutting class (just the boring ones, and it’s not like they cut too often). 

And somewhere down the line they had to apply for college, where the tangible thought of being separated was very possible.

(Not that they’d acknowledge it. 

They don’t mention it, and don’t think about it,

And maybe it won’t happen. ) 

Four years bled into a blur and soon enough it was another graduation, more solemn, more grandiose.

That summer felt as if time was frozen, and suddenly it was a hurricane of wailing winds and quiet goodbyes. 

Beverly was the one who left first, a gentle punch in the shoulder for both Brian and Jimmy and a smile and a wink tossed their way, before she pulls them close and hugs them tightly and sure, they promised to keep in touch but who knows how long that’ll hold on. 

She is old muted reds and blues and a smile with a calm demeanor on her face as she walks away from them and its as if the street stretches on and on forever and ever. 

Both Brian and Jimmy leave within days of each other, and it’s a quiet promise and the hook of their pinkies together that they’d keep in touch. 

Somehow they think that the Sassy Science Squad won’t live up to its name, and will be forgotten as something they had scratched into the stalls of their old high school’s bathroom as a joke when they got too drunk one day, when their finals were over and they had nothing to keep themselves from holding back and so they had done it and sure, it was silly but they didn’t care and it was Bev who dragged them both home, stumbling and singing show tunes off key and she had dumped them both onto her couch and told them to rest up , pulling a few blankets out of the closet and tossing it over them haphazardly. 

There was still a silver of hope that maybe they’d see each other again. 

vi. 

She walks down the halls of the FBI and into the labs and it’s Jack Crawford who introduces her to her coworkers, one Mr. Brian Zeller and Mr. Jimmy Price and it’s all curt nods and shaking hands but the minute he leaves it’s the quiet rush of arms wrapping around each other and quiet laughter because they were together again. 

They had laughed and bumped fists and the sassy science squad was back again. 

vii.

They fall into a pattern , and it’s murder after murder and somewhere down the line they had moved in together, all three of them sharing a flat and it should be crowded and jumbled but they’ve known each other for years now that they know which buttons to push and which ones to stay away from and they work as one cognitive machine and it works. 

It’s old blue pattern worked wallpapers and windows that let the sun lazily shine through and soon enough they fall into a habit of picking up stray cats that seem to follow them home. 

(It was really Brian’s fault because he brought the first one home and neither Bev nor Jimmy had the heart to tell him that they couldn’t keep it, and that was how “Worthington” was now battling Jimmy for the armchair and eventually it had ended up that Bev had won the chair and Jimmy had fallen asleep with his head in her lap and Worthington was sprawling out on top of Jimmy and it was okay because they were together and that was perfectly fine.) 

It was a beat of normalcy, of a quiet moment in between blood splatters and fingerprints, and corpses that stood out against the white walls of the lab and they were okay. 

It was the old patternworks and hands loosely laced together and the sound of quiet purrs that filled the apartment and they were okay.

They would be, anyway. 

They were the Sassy Science Squad, where nothing was too big of a mystery for them, and you certainly weren’t cool enough to be included in their top secret mission of being awesome. 

_fin._


End file.
